100 years after his death, Mark Twain gets the final say

Published 5:30 am, Tuesday, May 25, 2010

Samuel Langhorne Clemens, better known under his pen name, Mark Twain, ﻿ wrote such classics as "Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" and "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer."

Samuel Langhorne Clemens, better known under his pen name, Mark Twain, ﻿ wrote such classics as "Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" and "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer."

Photo: FILE PHOTO

100 years after his death, Mark Twain gets the final say

1 / 1

Back to Gallery

On April 21, 1910, the report of Mark Twain's death was not an exaggeration. It was a fact. The author of such American classics as The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and Adventures of Huckleberry Finn had left strict instructions that his uncensored autobiography remain unpublished until 100 years after his death.

That's this year.

The University of California Press has announced it will publish Twain's autobiography “in its entirety and exactly as he left it.” Volume I, at 743 pages, is slated for release in November. The remaining two volumes should appear within five years, said Alex Dahne, UC Press spokeswoman.

Twain's uncensored writings show the same penchant for humor and sharp social commentary as his novels. Along with barbed criticisms of friends and acquaintances, Twain discusses God, politics and, on one occasion, a sex toy.

According to Twain, the simple premise behind the free-ranging autobiography was to “talk only about the thing which interests you for the moment.” It's not in chronological order because that's not what he wanted.

After several attempts to write the autobiography with his own hand, Twain ended up dictating it. As he wrote to a friend in 1904, “You will never know how much enjoyment you have lost until you get to dictating your autobiography.”